The Ultimate Guide to Making Your Studio Feel Bigger

Elena Tahora

Style & Decor / / December 08, 2017

Studio apartments are affordable and they have that unique charm which I find very appealing. However, there’s just one tiny problem. They feel so small! The good news is that a studio apartment doesn’t necessarily have to feel that cramped all the time. Of course, you can’t physically stretch the space in between the walls any more than it already is, but you can most definitely make it feel bigger. If you are wondering how to do that exactly, take look at the following nine fool proof ways to make your studio apartment feel a lot bigger than it actually is.

Light Coloured Floor

Light coloured flooring makes the apartment look more spacious, as opposed to darker colours, which make any space look smaller and constricted. If you don’t have the budget or the option to change the floor itself, light coloured area rugs can be just the thing to do the job in that case.

Light Coloured Walls and Ceiling

As you might have realised by now, lighter shades are the way to go if your plan is to make an apartment feel bigger than it is. A good paint job should do the trick and if you can’t hire a painter right now, just do it yourself. While painting, though, make sure that the colour on the ceiling differs at least a bit from what is being used on the walls.

Less is More

The less cramped your apartment is, the bigger it will look. This isn’t just an illusion either, because technically, the more space your furniture takes up, the less space you are left with to use or even look at. Keep the following tips in mind while buying furniture for your studio apartment.

Never buy anything too large

Stick with only what you really need

Opt for slim products with a minimalistic design

Double Duty

The best way to save space by minimising furniture clutter is to buy things that can do double-duty for you. A bed-cum-sofa, a bed with a lot of storage space under it, a desk-cum-dining table; the list goes on. The basic idea is to find things that can do the job of two different types of furniture or appliance, so that you can save space by omitting one of them from your room.

The Space between the Walls and the Furniture

Whether it’s the bed, the sofa or any other furniture, it shouldn’t be touching the wall. Those few inches of space you leave in between the walls and the furniture may feel like a waste of space initially, but once you take the time to see it, you will realise that it actually makes the apartment look more spacious.

Make Them Look Up

It’s a neat little illusion where you make visitors subconsciously focus their eyes towards the top your apartment with the help of a hanging bookshelf and maybe even a wallpapered ceiling. It makes the room look taller and you might be surprised by how well it works even on you.

Bigger Might be Better

After all the instructions about how less is more and how you should keep furniture to a minimum, this may seem counterproductive, but it is not! When it comes to choosing decorations, choose just a small number of decently sized, well-chosen items rather than too many small pieces. It really works better.

Stripes

Interior designing isn’t much different from fashion designing and you will know that once you use a light coloured rug with darker stripes on it. Just as stripes make a person look wider, the rug will make your room appear bigger as well. Make sure that the stripes and the rug cover the whole floor so as to maximise the illusion.

Uncovered Windows

A very neat trick often used by interior designers to make smaller apartments look bigger is that of leaving the windows uncovered. This simple design choice makes sure that natural light is brought into full effect, giving the room or apartment some much needed depth. It works best if the frames of the windows are particularly slim and the glass is exceptionally clean. In case you are worried about privacy, just opt for two-way mirror glass or roman shades.

Everything that is mentioned here can be done without breaking the bank, but it would be even better if the apartment you are planning to rent or buy already has some of these things taken care of. So, when you contact your real estate agency to find the right place, go through the photos to see which available place has the right kind of design. It might also be a good idea to mention to your agent which things you are looking for in your apartment, so that they can notify you with more relevant results.

Elena has a BA degree in design. She started working in real estate at the age of 17 as an intern and never looked back. Her style is very art deco/contemporary but lately she has been studying mid-century modern architecture. She now runs home staging at maltasothebysrealty.com. Her other passions are playing tennis and travelling. You can follow her on twitter @tahoraelena